Kids LOVE play dough.
Kids LOVE transport toys.
So why not create a learning activity that can use both? That was my thinking when I was mulling over a new activity for learning CVCs (3-letter words such as dog and cat). Since I was focused on transport I decided I’d use ‘go’ and ‘stop’ signs to mark the start and finish points, surely a good way to sneak in another 2 words!
Getting ready
Print and laminate the mats or slip them into page protectors. I enlarged the mats to use with cars and other transport toys so that they don’t have to be too teeny tiny.
Options for play
Play dough
Students roll their play dough into a snake and form the letter shapes, thinking about the letter sounds as they form them and reading them both before they start and after they finish.
Dry erase markers or fingers
Of course, play dough can be skipped all together and the activity completed with dry erase markers, or simply with fingertips tracing the letters!
Transportation Toys
Children love following the dotted lines with their tiny cars or planes, starting and stopping where the signs indicate. They’ll also get tons of practice reading the words ‘go’ and ‘stop.’
Snack time
The mats make good placemats so children can trace the letters with their fingers while munching on a snack!
Download here
Click this link to grab these CVC TRANSPORTATION MATS. They will immediately be sent to your downloads folder or other device equivalent.
Can you think of other ways to use these mats? If so, please leave a comment!
Above all, I hope the little ones in your life enjoy using them!
Want more mats?
Later note: Since these mats have been so popular I have created a pack containing 28 transport words that your kids might enjoy. Transport Mats: play dough, reading, writing and syllables.
If you are looking for more transport-related activities my Kindergarten Transport Literacy Activities pack may help. Feel free to check it out.
I love these mats! Thanks so much for sharing them.
You’re welcome, Jean. I hope your little one enjoys them!
Thanks! I love these and I know that my students will love them too! Using play dough is a great way to keep my students engaged.
These are fantastic! Thank you for sharing! Do you have just the letters on their own available somewhere? 🙂
Thanks, Lorena. Sorry, I don’t have separate letters, although it’s a great idea. I’ll add it to my ‘to do’ list! Thanks for stopping by!
LOVE THIS, Can you tell me the font you used or did you add the dashes and signs?
Thanks!
Jenn
Thanks, Jenn, I used Kimberly Geswein’s Primary Penmanship 2 making the centre of the letters blank. Then I created the dots and signs separately and added them in. By the way, I love The Secret Garden. My daughter was just in the musical they did of it at school and it was absolutely amazing!
I absolutely love these!! Another great way to use them for fine motor is placing small stickers (stars, smiley faces, etc.) along the dotted line 🙂
That’s a great idea, thanks Audra!
I tried to download the transport mats but could not find them on TPT. Can I still get them?
Absolutely! Underneath the picture of the sub you’ll see highlighted green text “CVC Transport Mats.” Just click on that link and you’ll go straight to the download. I haven’t put these in my TpT store as I keep most of my free products on this blog. If you’d like to be notified of future freebies you can subscribe at the top for my monthly newsletter. I hope you enjoy using these and thanks for visiting! (Let me know if you still can’t find them).
Nicely done, Liz! Thanks for sharing these at Manic Monday!
These transport mats are so cute and a wonderful hands-on tool for letter ID practice…and who doesn’t LOVE play-doh right? I think you are one of my blogging buddies from Classroom Freebies Too! I pin, Google+, and FB your creative products all the time! Thanks for sharing such a fabulous resource!
Best wishes!
Jen 🙂
PERFECT fit for Sept!
Thank you so much for linking up to The Sunday Showcase last week. I was thrilled to see this post on the link up! What wonderful learning tools!
What a lovely comment, thanks so much, Deirdre!